Collapsible wardrobes, armoires, and storage closets have been known and used for many years.
For example, U.S. Ser. No. 890,554 describes a collapsible wardrobe comprising a rectangular peripheral frame over which is stretched cloth, leather, or tough paper to provide a hollow inner space having the frame as a rim at its edges for holding a shelf extending across between the frame edges, thereby holding the wardrobe rigidly open. The shelf is made of spaced-apart slats that receive coat hooks for suspending garments. The slats have holes in each end through which a pair of rods are inserted, one rod being pivotally attached to the upright frame, and the other rod being hung from a J-shaped hook.
Swiss Patent 552,361 discloses another collapsible wardrobe having a frame that comprises four molded plastic connection pieces, four upright outer frame poles, six transverse poles, and a cloth or plastic cover having a pair of zippers that traverse the top, bottom and one side to form a front door. An additional connection piece may be inserted a short distance beneath the top and at the bottom, and two additional upright poles, shorter than the corner poles, may be inserted into this additional piece to support it and to support a plurality of horizontally disposed shelves at one side of the wardrobe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,221 describes a composite modular layout structure providing numbers of combinations, including a built-in wardrobe and a partition type of wardrobe, comprising side elements, back elements located in guides at the vertical edges of the side elements, roof and base panels adapted for assembling the side elements and roof and base panels together.
A wardrobe that is available in the United States, identified as "JOLLY" and sold by Williams-Sonoma, 4300 Concorde Road, Memphis, Tenn. 38118, uses the molded plastic connection pieces, frame poles, transverse poles, and cover of Swiss Patent 552,361 as its frame but without the shelves, additional connection piece, and additional upright poles thereof. It further includes bottom and top panels, however, and an upper shelf panel.
A "wardrobe organizer" sold by LEE/ROWAN, 6333 Etzel Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63133, comprises four metal shelves, a single upright pole, two brackets, and joiner plates for attachment to the walls of a closet. Two of the shelves extend to the position of the pole and are attached thereto at a corner. The other two shelves are also attached to the pole but are longer and may be cut to desired lengths.
A wide variety of attachment means for connecting and supporting wire frame shelving to upright poles and other support means are known in the art.
U.S. Ser. No. 719,060, for example, describes a display rack comprising a pair of spaced-apart frame pieces in the form of inverted U's. Rectangular shelves are disposed between the frame pieces and are formed by front, back, and side wire rods, having ends that are wrapped around the upright portions of the frame pieces, and an array of cross-pieces joining the front and back rods.
U.S. Ser. No. 840,512 relates to a clothes rack that is capable of being supported upon a wall. A plurality of uprights spaced apart and connected at upper and lower ends by cross pieces is attached to the wall. An outwardly projecting longitudinal flange is attached to each upright. The arms of the E-shaped bars to receive the clothes have bent ends to project into holes in the flanges. The arms may be folded downwardly so as not to occupy floor space.
U.S. Ser. No. 941,653 discloses a foldable kitchen rack comprising an upright stem which is attached to a wall and is perforated from side to side at spaced intervals. The stem is flanked by flanges and caries a series of spaced clasps which may be swung either downwardly to extend at an angle from the stem or upwardly to fold against the stem. Each clasp is composed of a single piece of wire bent to form a transverse rear arm, a pair of end loops, upright front shanks, heels, and pintles. The two pintles of each clasp are slipped from opposite directions into one of the perforations in the upright stem. The clasps may be folded against the stem when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,366,743 is directed to sectional metallic shelving in which the shelves are supported upon and detachably attached to rods or bars extending from one upright or partition to the next. Box-like face strips have bottle neck slots formed therein for reception of the shelf hooks, with the intermediate section being of increased thickness.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,232,442 relates to a mobile, collapsible storage rack in which the merchandise is held and displayed on inclined trays. The display and storage rack includes a plurality of upright supports, formed from a pair of tubular members in the shape of an inverted U, that are apertured to receive and mount a plurality of shelf brackets. A plurality of wire-formed shelf brackets include a first rod-like member extending along the length of the bracket and having a bent-over end portion which extends sideways through an aperture in the corresponding upright support, whereby the brackets are mounted in an inclined manner between the upright supports. A retaining nut is removably mounted on the protruding end of each of the bent-over end portions. A plurality of wire-formed trays are mounted on the shelf brackets.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,506 relates to insertable shelving, comprising four vertical posts having rectangularly elongated openings in the rear sides thereof. Each shelf, of the wire grill type, has a pair of laterally spaced and forwardly projecting prongs or fingers that are rigidly mounted thereon and receivable in the openings in the front pair of posts. These prongs are in the form of laterally offset portions of bars which are secured to the outer sides of the shelf, a retaining slot being provided in the lower edge of each prong to receive the wall of the post. The rear portion of each shelf is similarly equipped with rearwardly projecting prongs or fingers on laterally offset portions of bars for insertion in the openings in the rear pair of posts.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,879 relates to knockdown steel shelving wherein each corner of a shelf is provided with a slidably mounted hook member that extends into the cut-out corner of the shelf. The hook members are guided within the box flange for retraction to clear an upright support member for level adjustment and then tightened to a retracted position by a cam.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,903 relates to a refrigerator including four notched posts and a plurality of shelves that fit into the notches.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,567 describes a camp grill for cooking over an open fire. The grill has a top with hollow cylindrical leg holders, each telescopically receiving one of the four legs. Each leg has axially spaced, radially and outwardly extending lugs disposed in alignment with each other. Each leg holder has a slot therein that fits over a lug. To adjust the height of the grill, the leg holders can be adjusted by aligning them with the slots in the cylindrical holders, sliding the legs to the proper vertical position, and rotating them so that the lugs underlie the holders.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,301 shows a four-corner post adjustable shelf assembly having a flexible latch structure composed of a flex arm with a latch finger mounted on one end, the flex arm being connected to the shelf at the other end. The installer manually flexes the flex arms out of the connect position and releases them when the latch fingers are disposed adjacent to selected holes in the corner posts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,378 relates to knock-down shelving consoles that may be stacked horizontally and vertically. Each console comprises a pair of side frame support standards formed by a pair of laterally spaced wire frame members bent into a rectangular shape. Positioned between and interconnecting these frame members are a multiplicity of U-shaped connecting members which appear as equally spaced rungs on a ladder. Shelves may be of multi-wire type or may comprise a wire frame and a planar shelf member supported by the wire frame. For every shelf or wire frame, the corners of the intersection of the respective adjacent border members include hook-shaped connectors which preferably have a pair of laterally offset legs interconnected by a substantially horizontal leg. The legs project downwardly and are positioned within selected ones of the U-shaped connecting members.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,107 pertains to knock-down utility carts for use in hospitals, hotels, schools, and the like. This cart comprises four corner posts, upper and lower shelves, a single handle, and four casters. The corner posts are formed of straight tubing. A stacked series of split support collars surrounds each corner post. The exterior surface of each collar tapers outwardly downwardly so that mating sleeves at the corners of the lower shelf closely engage those surfaces, whereby the shelf is supported horizontally.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,69,966 relates to a wire-formed display tray attachable in cantilever fashion to a perforated vertical support panel, commonly known as pegboard. A first set of wires is arranged in spaced parallel arrangement in one plane forming the bottom of the tray. The rear portions of these wires extend diagonally rearwardly and upwardly in a second plane which is obtuse to the plane of the tray bottom. The outer two of the wires extend further than the others, and their rear ends are offset in L-shaped fashion to be inserted through holes in the perforated support panel and bear against the inner surface of the panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,959 relates to a rack arrangement for storing goods in shops, warehouses, homes, and the like. The rack comprises vertically disposed corner poles and horizontal wire-formed shelves that are attached by fastening members to the corner poles. A fastening member includes a first gripping member for attaching the fastening member detachably to a corner pole and a second gripping member for attaching a shelf detachably to the fastening member. The first gripping member comprises a sideways and outwardly open vertical groove, and the second gripping member comprises an upwards open lengthwise groove and an upwards open transversal groove.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,973 discloses a shelving unit comprising a pair of planar side members, each having a pair of closely vertically spaced horizontal rods extending between forward and rear vertical legs of the side member. The unit also comprises a pair of shelf members with U-shaped hook members on opposed sides that are adapted to engage the horizontal rods. The U-shaped hooks extend upwardly, normal to the shelf surfaces, and then downwardly so that the open ends of the U's face downwardly and extend over a pair of the horizontal rods.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,973 relates to a bicycle support rack that includes a shelf piece and a U-shaped bracket. The shelf piece has a pair of downwardly extending members at its rear corners for attachment to a wall and a pair of downwardly and then upwardly curved members at its front corners for supporting a bicycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,971 relates to an adjustable shelf structure adaptable for use in combination with existing refrigerated display coolers. The shelf structure comprises a grid of rod members and a slidably attached hook member at each corner. Each hook member comprises an eyelet engaging one of the rod members and angularly related members that engage any one of a plurality of vertically spaced hooks, openings, and similar attachment means commonly associated with the upright support members utilized in known cooler systems.
Although these known wardrobe frames and known attachment means have useful features, they generally lack a plurality of shelves having simple attachment means that can be inexpensively manufactured and easily installed by a purchaser, while furnishing additional rigidity to the entire frame.